Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with new Sony IMX333 and Samsung camera sensors

Remember those rumors sourced from the Chinese tech blogosphere that the Galaxy S8 may come with a new custom Sony camera sensor, tagged as IMX333. At the time, it seemed a bit improbable, given that this sensor is not in Sony's official Exmor lineup of mobile sensors, and that the camera was rumored to be the same as on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. Moreover, last year the 12 MP camera that found its way in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge uses two sensor models - either Samsung's own S5K2L1 ISOCELL unit, or a piece by Sony, marked as IMX260.

A quick look at a system info app reveals that Samsung uses two types of sensors - its own and Sony's - this year for the Galaxy S8 as well, but the Sony sensor is listed as... you guessed it... IMX333. The new 8 MP front camera also uses either Sony IMX320, or a Samsung sensor. Sony, as the world's largest phone camera sensor maker, often does custom orders for huge clients like Apple or Samsung, and then the manufacturers tack on optics and image processing of their own, for a completely individualized experience. Thus, the improved low-light and anti-blur abilities that Samsung is touting may be a result of precisely that move, along with some new software algorithms.

Samsung's own sensor is coded as S5K2L2 this time, so it seemingly is also a different model than the S5K2L1 that is used in the S7. We made a couple of shots with the S8 against some popular phones, and the pictures from the new flagship came out with a tad brighter exposure, and not as warm and yellowish color balance as from the S7, but we can't comment on any difference in quality before we get the retail version for a review still. Last year, there was a slight difference in photos taken with the Sony or the Samsung sensor, so it will be interesting to see if that trend will hold with the new S8 camera sensors as well.

I think it's an interesting way to launch a device. First,underplay the official introduction and then have tech sites find out individual upgrades giving them a reason to post about your device and hence keep the hype and popularity going.

Some tech sites are now reporting that the S8 has stereo speakers in HTC 10 style, waiting for Sammobile or Samsung themselves to confirm this. There's also the news about the new battery tech that lets them hold up for longer.

But surely..it WOULD have been netter to state all this in the announcement.

lol Apple uses the EXACT SAME design for 2 years in a row and somehow get away with it. Samsung uses different designs ever year and even in some case, multiple designs the same year like when the GS and GS2 had different carrier variants and some idiots here and in the media actually blame Samsung for using the same design. Each iteration looked completely different. lol

To be fair its mostly Samsung's fault for basically glossing over the camera aspects. They surely didn't frontline it like they usually do and almost 100% of the tech media followed suit saying it was the same sensor from last year with Google style improvements. I'll be the first to admit that i poked fun at Samsung based off their information but if there are indeed imrpovements and upgrades than I'll give credit where it's due.

Looking at the processors, I think they went for efficiency over performance. The Exynos versions may hold up OK, despite the small batteries to screen size ratio. I haven't seen any info on whether the screens are much more efficient than the previous generation.

This makes me a bit sceptical about what the Note 8 will offer over the S8 Plus. Samsung typically uses the same flagship camera sensor for a year. The gap between S8 Plus and Note 8 seems pretty small. The Note 8 needs more than a screen resolution bump and an S Pen to make sense if the S8 Plus seems to be a very productive phablet.

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